A dose of economic cheer

Signs of revival in region's housing and job markets

Published 11:25 pm, Thursday, April 19, 2012

ALBANY — The local housing and job markets haven't looked this good since 2008.

On Thursday, two separate reports, from the state Department of Labor and the Greater Capital Association of Realtors, showed a rebound in private-sector employment and an upturn in housing sales and prices.

The figures for this time of year are the strongest since 2008, at the beginning of the economic slump.

Sales of single-family homes in the 11-county area that includes the Capital Region were up 11 percent in the first three months of 2012, according to the Capital Region Multiple Listing Service.

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The 1,445 homes sold are the most since 2008, when 1,614 homes changed owners in the same period.

Average and median prices also were the highest since 2008, the MLS reported.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department reported the five-county metropolitan region added 8,000 private sector jobs over the past year to March, a 2.4 percent gain that outpaced both the state's 2.1 percent rise and the nation's 2.0 percent increase, said state labor markets analyst James Ross.

The news wasn't all good. The public sector, and state government employment in particular, continue to shrink. State employees now number just 48,500, or little more than a tenth of the 440,000 workers overall in the Capital Region.

Sales of single-family homes in March rose 3 percent, while pending sales were up 22 percent. The average sale price increased 5 percent to $211,058, while the median price — at which half the homes sold for more and half for less — rose 10 percent to $190,000.

"The numbers from our March reports which are especially encouraging are both the pending sales for the month of March and the average and median price of transactions closed during the month," said Miguel Berger, president-elect of the Greater Capital Association of Realtors, which issued Thursday's housing report. He said the price and pending sales data "point toward a more active market which can lead to a more balanced market."

Since the start of the economic slump, real estate prices have been heavily weighted in the buyer's favor. But the uncertainty of the economic outlook often caused would-be buyers to stay on the sidelines.

That may be changing.

Last week, Siena Research Institute reported that consumers in the state's largest metropolitan areas were more upbeat during the first quarter than they had been in five years. The Institute's quarterly consumer confidence survey said the Capital Region's index of confidence was the third-highest among the nine metros areas measured.

"We haven't seen this for a while," said Doug Lonnstrom, the institute's founding director, who noted that while consumers remain cautious, buying plans for major purchases were up.

"In fact, it's really good news," he said, "and it tells you the Capital Region is doing better than the rest of the state."

Johnson said the economy in the Capital Region and nationwide actually turned the corner in June 2009.

And he predicted that, with the exception of Queens County, Saratoga County's employment growth this year would be better than every other county in New York state.

The booming technology sector, with the recently opened GlobalFoundries semiconductor plant already employing 1,300 people, is a big factor.

Thursday's labor market report said manufacturing in the Capital Region added 1,700 jobs, up 8.2 percent, while leisure and hospitality increased by 1,900 jobs, up 5.8 percent, and business and professional services added 2,500 jobs, up 5.0 percent.

The sector that includes construction added 2,000 jobs, a 13.9 percent year-to-year increase, although much of that gain could be due to an abnormally mild winter.

The Labor Department will release March unemployment figures for the Capital Region on Tuesday.

In February, unemployment actually climbed to 8.1 percent from 7.8 percent a year earlier, as the labor force increased, but the number of unemployed looking for work increased even more.